For the past 18 years my dad and I have been playing in a fantasy football league with a great group of guys. The league itself has evolved every couple of years and some of the members in the league have also changed throughout the years but the core of the group has stayed together for almost two decades. It has made for some great bonding between my dad and I and some great camaraderie among some of our lifelong friends.
Last year we hosted the coveted Fantasy Football Super Bowl trophy. It would be our second time hosting it in the past 4 years. That is what the winner of the league gets each year along with their names engraved at the bottom. The trophy has traveled around now between 12 different team owners over a span of 20 years.
This year would be quite different for my dad and I as our team got hit with injuries and under performance right out of the gate. To say we started out slow would be a massive understatement, as we didn't even have a single win through 8 weeks of the season. Last year at this point we were 7-1 and in first place... this year 0-8 and in last place.
There are 14 teams in the league and only the top 6 teams make the playoffs. So, making the playoffs every year can be pretty difficult.
Since the slow start our team has started to turn things around... winning the last 3 weeks in a row. Bringing our record to 3-8. However, the teams ahead of us just kept winning as well. So, although we are no longer in last place, we were just mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this week.
It was a crushing blow to the hopes and dreams of a repeat among my dad and I. Now we just have to watch football and cheer for the home team instead of rooting for our specific players each week... On a birghter note, our Sundays just got a lot more open!
There is always next year, and I imagine we will start doing our homework for next year's draft a little earlier than usual... ;)
Live well my friends!
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